Joe Cumberland obeyed without a word, and then lay back at full length upon the couch—a palsy had seized on him, and the hand which rested on the shoulder of Dan Barry was shaking. By the couch came the tall dog, and crouched, staring up in the master's face; then the younger man turned his face towards Byrne and the girl. Those thin-cut nostrils expanded, the lips compressed, and Byrne dared not look into the flare of the eyes.
"Who done this?" asked Barry, and still the shiver of cold metal rang in his voice. "Who's done this?"
"Steady, lad," said Joe Cumberland faintly. "They ain't no call for fightin'. Steady, Dan, boy. An' don't leave me!"
Byrne caught a signal from Kate and followed her obediently from the room.
"Let them be alone," she said.
"Impossible!" protested the doctor. "Your father is lapsed into a most dangerous condition. The physical inertia which has held him for so long is now broken and I look for a dangerous mental and nervous collapse to accompany it. A sedative is now imperative!"
He laid his hand on the knob of the door to return, but the girl blocked his way.
"Don't go in," she commanded feebly. "I can't explain to you. All I can say is that Dad was the one who found Dan Barry and there's something between them that none of us understand. But I know that he can help Dad. I know Dad is in no danger while Dan is with him."
"A pleasant superstition," nodded the doctor, "but medicine, my dear
Miss Cumberland, does not take account of such things."
"Doctor Byrne," she said, rallying a failing strength for the argument,
"I insist. Don't ask me to explain."